The Summer Palace is the best example of classical Chinese gardens. Boasting exquisite scenery and a sea of precious cultural relics, it is renowned as the “Museum of Royal Gardens”. On December 2, 1998, it was recognized as a World Heritage Site.

Starting from the top of Longevity Hill, a central axis runs down to the Sea of Wisdom and incorporates the Summer Palace, the Tower of Buddhist Incense, Hall of Virtuous Glamour, Hall of Dispelling Clouds, Gate of Dispelling Clouds, and the Glowing Clouds and Holy Land Archway, at distinctly different levels. Below the hill is an over-700-meter-long Long Corridor, with over 8,000 colored paintings on the corridor girders.

The Summer Palace boasts a magnificent style, with around three fourths of the palace taken up by Kunming Lake. By the lake, there are hundreds of pavilions, terraces, towers, corridors and awnings, with over 3,000 rooms, among which, the Tower of Buddhist Incense, Long Corridor, Stone Boat, Suzhou Street, 17-Arch Bridge and so on are all representative examples of architecture well known by the public and must-see spots for visitors. The entire palace is set off by the Western Hills. The integration of buildings, lakes and hills makes the Summer Palace scenery richly diverse.